Brisket math help

Ozzie_Isaac

Let me start off by saying I am doped up on cold medicine and antibiotics so I want to double check my times.

I am doing an 11lb prime packer.  I am planning to rub with salt&pepper al'la Aaron Franklin.  I want to cook at 250 with oak and hickory.  Tomorrow I will be gone from 10-1 for baseball games.  I would like to eat around 3.

What time should I put it on?  I also want to wrap in butcher paper.  I have 216,000 sq. inches of it that I got just for this cook so I would be a little sad if I didn't get to use some of it.

@Cazzy @SGH any suggestion on the time I should put it on and at what temp I should wrap?

Ozzie_Isaac

Anybody else is welcome to chime in too.

Eggcelsior

Eek. I'd say put it on at 10 tonight but that has a chance of cutting it close. Maybe get up when it hits 160 and crutch it through the stall? I've had a 15 lb brisket finish in as little as 10 hours at your temp so you should hopefully be able to swing it with the crutch as well, a crutch.

cazzy

Between 12-2am.  Since you said ala Aaron Franklin, lose the hickory.  

Wrap after the stall.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

^^^^^this. And cook at like 230. You can bump after the game

Ozzie_Isaac

Ok, I will go just oak and put it on at midnight, at 230.  Wrap after the stall and bring it home.  Luckily the game is only 5 minutes from my house so I can run home in a pinch.

How many chunks of oak should I do?  I was thinking 3 fist sized chunks.

SGH

If it were me, and I wanted to eat it at 3:00pm, then I would put it on at 3:00am. Why? Then time is on your side. It gives you eons to make adjustments. Especially if you are going to stay around 250. I would wrap it once it was the color I wanted. Some like a mahogany look, this would put you wrapping at a lower temp. Some like the dark black meteor look, this would put you wrapping at a much higher temp. Rather than trying to wrap at a specific temp, wrap it when it has the desired look that you want. Giving yourself the 12 hour window stacks the odds in your favor. Especially when running low temps. I base the above on you saying its 11 pounds. Depending on how you trim, you may be cooking a 9 pound brisket. At 250 degrees, 12 hours will be more time than is needed. If you run hotter this time frame will naturally be reduced. If you run cooler then this time frame would be extended a little. 

Chubbs

This is the math I use. 

4 hours in a bar + 6 beverages at home -- 35 minutes of prep time - 1 hour of egg prep x your age / the poundage of meat = cook time. Good luck and just ask @The Cen-Tex Smoker 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

actually- I would try to have it ready before the game. I think your best bet is to put it on at at like 10-11pm at 275. It will be ready around 8am (you are going to be about 9-9.5 lbs trimmed). Put it in a cooler wrapped in towels and let it rest while you are gone. I would not want it on the egg while you are gone so late in the cook. You could easily blow past- especially if you have it wrapped

Ozzie_Isaac

Ok, so based on @Cazzy 's advice I will scratch the hickory and roll with 4 fist size pieces of oak.

I also decided to aim for eating somewhere between 5 and 6.  @The Cen-Tex Smoker is probably right, I don't want to risk overshooting while I am gone or rushing my kids right after their game.  That will allow me to go at the planned 250 and hopefully be ready to wrap after the games.  I plan to follow @SGH advice and wrap at the color I want.  I like deep mahogany not meteorite black.

With that in mind I plan to get up around 3:30 a.m. to start the fire.  I will let it roll until 5:30 a.m. when I will put the brisket on.  That should allow me plenty of time and hopefully won't have to wrap until after 1.  I can run home in between games to check also.

Ozzie_Isaac

Best laid plans .... should have tossed it on at 9pm and had it ready for lunch.  All baseball games are cancelled due to rain.  At least now I have time to watch it.

Ladeback69

Mike_Hauchertz said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Let me start off by saying I am doped up on cold medicine and antibiotics so I want to double check my times.

I am doing an 11lb prime packer.  I am planning to rub with salt&pepper al'la Aaron Franklin.  I want to cook at 250 with oak and hickory.  Tomorrow I will be gone from 10-1 for baseball games.  I would like to eat around 3.

What time should I put it on?  I also want to wrap in butcher paper.  I have 216,000 sq. inches of it that I got just for this cook so I would be a little sad if I didn't get to use some of it.

@Cazzy @SGH any suggestion on the time I should put it on and at what temp I should wrap?

He said ...packer.

You must be new to the forum.  That word gets used a lot on here.

@Ozzie_Isaac, after the brisket reaches around 145 to 150 it won't take any more smoke in so if you looking for a temp and that I believe would be it and the mahogany color you are looking for.  I agree with @SGH on what he said about time to cook.

lousubcap

@Ozzie_Isaac - all is not lost-you can now enjoy the company of adult supervisory beverages in the proper role and be at quite high altitude when time to enjoy the brisket.

Ozzie_Isaac

lousubcap said:

@Ozzie_Isaac - all is not lost-you can now enjoy the company of adult supervisory beverages in the proper role and be at quite high altitude when time to enjoy the brisket.

Good call.  Every cloud has a silver lining.

Ozzie_Isaac

I am at 177 IT and no stall yet?  I have two meat probes in the thickest part of the flat and 2 grate probes.  All readings match.

The outside is also not darkening up very fast.

lousubcap

Don't know how much al'la Franklin rub you used.  Are you running fat cap up or down or did that decision devastate you ?  If you put a good coating of rub on then I would wonder about the color (lack of) as well.  But that aside, it will taste great regardless-surprised at the cruise thru the stall but you may find one later in the cook.  If 250*F on the grate, the stall could be on the short side-grab another beer and enjoy the aroma.  

Ozzie_Isaac

Fat cap up and just a salt&pepper rub.  Not real heavy.  Wonder what it looks like underneath?

Jeepster47

I like the firebrick on the grill grate to protect the wires.  No chance of a flare-up burning the wires.  That looks better than the firebrick down by the stone, or the platesetter leg down a few inches below the grill grate. 

Maybe several ceramic floor tiles cut to various shapes - one end curved to fit tight against the egg side - will be a new addition to the stash box.

Ozzie_Isaac

Well I cannot leave well enough alone so I flipped it so fat cap is now down.  Trying to form some good bark on top.

I have never done fat cap up, but Aaron Franklin said he is a fat cap up smoker.

SGH

Ozzie_Isaac saiD:

I have never done fat cap up, but Aaron Franklin said he is a fat cap up smoker.

Look at the difference in what he is smoking on compared to what you are smoking on. The "through flow" is entirely different as is the amount of reflective heat. Also on a real large smoker you have the option to move the meat around to compensate for inconsistencies. This is not a option on a small ceramic type smoker. He can play the draft and hot spots to his advantage. This is a option that you do not have on a egg. 

Ozzie_Isaac

@SGH that is a good point.  So on the egg do you go fat cap down?

SGH

Ozzie_Isaac said:

@SGH that is a good point.  So on the egg do you go fat cap down?

It's a personal opinion but I do feel that I get a better "look" when going fat cap down on the egg. Again, we all have our own style and preferences, but fat cap down on a Kamado gives me superior bark every time.  

SGH

Just to be clear, the end product will taste the same no matter which way you turn the fat cap. I just can hit the look much easier with the fat cap down. 

lousubcap

I'm with SGH-cap down on the BGE.  And it's all about the look...jk!

SGH

lousubcap said:

I'm with SGH-cap down on the BGE.  And it's all about the look...jk!

Tellem brother.

Ozzie_Isaac

So its cap down now and I repositioned my probe.  Its making more sense now.  I must have been in a fat pocket or near the surface.

Now at 8hrs I'm reading 174 which is closer to what I would expect.  The old spot was 185.

Ozzie_Isaac

Got the color I wanted and right on schedule.  I was aiming to wrap around 1 so 1:30 works for me.

The color is great, but still seems to be a lot of fat to render.

lousubcap

Trust the feel.  It will guide you home.  And well worth however long it takes to get there.  The cook is at least an order of magnitude more enjoyable for me than the eats.  YMMV-

Ozzie_Isaac

Well, this was a huge success.  Everyone agreed this is best thing I've done on the eggs.

SGH

Looks like a winner to me my friend. Enjoy.

Ozzie_Isaac

Thanks everyone for your help!  Even in cold blowing rain this has been my favorite cook.  Your guys advice sure makes these easy cooks.

Takeaways:  

1.  Simple seasoning salt&pepper just plain works.

2.  Got a packer with the thickest flat they had.  Whole thing cooked even.  Nothing was turned to jerky.  Consistent moisture all they way across.

3.  Paper helped the bark immensely.  I do not like metorite black.  I also don't like spritzing or mopping.  The paper kept the bark from getting overdone, but didn't soften it like foil does.

4.  I was very cautious on trimming the fat.  I kept what seemed like to much.  Even the harder type fat soften and melted more than I thought.

5.  You guys all nailed the times.  11 lb packer, I trimmed off 1lb and 13oz.  It took 11hrs and 47 minutes.

6.  No FTC for me.  Pulled when jiggly rested for 20 minutes, sliced and served.  Juice was dripping out of the slices and they had just the right amount of pull.